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Episode Recap
__FORCETOC__ 28th May, 2013 - Seed in the Hole After dealing with an illusionary crown in the previous room, the party entered the next room and were surrounded in darkness. The Undead Priestess they have been seeking appeared levitating before them, claiming that this would be their final steps. After vanishing, a 3 spiders crawled out of a hole in the ground, looking to halt the adventurers progress. Upon defeating the Spiders, the party moved down a flight of stairs where the dungeon began to take a different shape. The tiling around the place seemed to be of a higher quality, and small stone spider silhouettes marked the walls in regular intervals. After hearing some talking behind a door, they setup an ambush for a rogue party of Wrights, who they felled quite quickly. Between the overheard discussions between the Wrights (who spoke Common), and their dying threats, the party learned that the Spiders they encountered were one of two "Guardians". What exactly the Guardians are suppose to be protecting is unclear. In his last dying breath, the Wright Captain screamed. "He may have failed, but she will do her biding." The Party picked up a ritual book in the room, which was filled with all kinds of texts regarding Dark Rituals, Rebirths, Drow Magic etc. They found some information on the Sacrifice Box, which Kale was able to decipher which cleared up most questions regarding the box's history and purpose. As they travelled into the next room, leaving Ron atop a bookcase, four pillers stand surrounding a large blue orb in the center. The pillars are shaped in the form of Spiders, each with large Ruby stones embedded into their foreheads. As they begin to look around, Rotdogs begin to filter out through destroyed cave systems in the western wall... 4th June, 2013 - Rotdogs, Reanimations and Rituals The Heroes find themselves locked inside a room with four spider statues, with large gemstones socketed inside their foreheads. As the doors slam shut, Ron finds himself alone and trapped inside the library, the room the party just left. As the party search around the room, Rotdogs begin to crawl out from crumbled holes along the western walls, which they assume connect to some kinds of cave/lair. The undead decrepit beasts stream out in what appears to be an endless number, and once the Heroes figure out the rotating pillar key to the room, no less that 46 Rotdogs have been felled. Opening the room to the south, they find some ritual components, and after some time, find the rune etched under the table. Using a Ritual allowing him to read Drow, Kale learns that the rune is a Gateway of some kind. Backtracking, they see no signs of Ron in the room they left him - however there is evidence of some kind of conflict. They make they’re way to the next area where they find numerous Svirfneblin chained to the walls, dead, but devoid of any rot or decay. As they sneak past the two headed death dog, who they have caught sleeping, they find one gnome still breathing, and learn that this is Glim Febblestone. They learn that two guardians guard the gateway which inevitably leads to the Drow Priestess, Bail’fryn Torfray. They know previously that they have killed one guardian already, yet one still lives. They gain rumors of a Dracolich reanimation, and also learn about the second level of this place, and how the gnomes had used it as a scared site for the tomb of Breena Peck, the well respected Queen of Blingdenstone. As they move to the next room, they sneak into a room where a Skeletal Mage has begun the Dracolich reanimation spell, giving life to that which should be left lifeless. 12th June, 2013 - Mudfight Uruvian wakes to find himself summoned by the Chieftain of his order, Elgoth Winterspring. After exchanging pleasantries and discussing Uruvian’s stay briefly, the Chieftain brings grave news concerning Lucidia, one of Uruvians Eagle guardians. A feather, stained black and emanating a foul smell is handed to him, recovered by the scouts from the Eagles nest themselves. Little is known about the disease, and Uruvian is sent to Thoeak's store inside the city of Belwin, hoping to uncover more details. Thoeak is generally pleased to see Uruivan again, but when the feather is revealed things become very serious, and he becomes worried and a little more displaced than usual. He asks Uruvian to return in three days, and to switch the store sign to closed on the way out. After leaving the place, Uruvian is directed to lodging known as the “Pig's Snout”, by a generally disgruntle resident. On his way there, he is intercepted by a ten foot tall ogre, brandishing a large stone hammer. Kale begins his morning like usual, heading towards the temple to begin his daily duties. Random acts of kindness along the way strengthen his reputation around the city as a kind, caring individual. When entering the quarters of his mentor, High Priest Cedric, he becomes a little worried. Cedric is franticly throwing things into a pack, his office is a mess of parchments and old tomes. A quill and ink is knocked over on the desk, and its clear that he is stressed and worried. He states that he can’t divulge details to Kale just yet, but all will become clear. He asks Kale to watch over his duties/students at the temple in his absence, and if he hasn’t returned in five days, to begin searching for him. As he leaves the main gates, he turns to Kale and whispers “Beware the Shadow”. Kale heads back to his masters quarters and takes a look over the books that adorn his desk. They are not of religious context, and appear to be written in Old Speak, a Pre-War language generally used by high magic users. Although Kale can’t read them, he can recognize symbols pertaining to Pre-War History and Shadow Planes. He wraps up the books, hides them inside a closet and decides to head off to the Half Heard, a tavern frequented by “small people” for a quiet drink. On his way there, he also finds his path blocked by the Ogre. Apollo heads towards the barracks, preparing for an organized raid that has been sport north of the city. As a Wing Commander in the King's Guard, it is usually his job to lead the attack on the evil forces. As he enters the prep room however, the mood drops and troops who usually revere the great warrior, struggle to even make eye contact. A meeting with Markus Faringray, the War Marshall reminds Apollo of the events that have unfolded over the last few days. Three days earlier, he was found face down with no less than ten corpses laying around his body. Men, women and children were all victims, his sword laying bloodied by his side. He has no recollection of the events that unfolded, and constant black outs and cases of short term amnesia has plagued him since the incident. Until his name can be cleared, or an understanding of what happened can be obtained, Apollo has been stood down from service, a direct order from the King - for obvious “political” reasons. The War Marshall swears to do everything in his power to sort the situation out, and Apollo is dismissed. Traveling back to his quarters, he hears a loud explosion that sounds like splintered wood, and runs towards the action to find himself staring across the way at a large, ten foot tall Ogre - a short Halfling Cleric and Elven Druid nearby. Taking a quiet drink in the confines of the Pig's Snout, Ron keeps the shadows as he contemplates when his next contract will roll round. The Pig's Snout, renowned for its shady patrons and less-than-noble business men, is alive with activity, even for such an early morning. A cloaked man gives Ron the symbol that he instantly recognizes as that of the Night's Bane - an underground organization that he has worked for in the past. The jobs are usually simple, and the money is always good. Ron knows very little of the organization himself, and cares very little to find out. Gold is gold. He takes a contract on a man's life, living not two blocks from the Pig's Snout in a run down area of town. This poorer side of town rarely sees the sun, and the muddy, damp locale reflects that. It reeks of stale water and is covered in the shadow of the mountain. He finds the house and makes his way silently inside, noticing a shield on the wall, the symbol of the King's house brandished on the front in gold. The man hears nothing, as Ron commits the act quickly, and quietly. A loud audible knock on the front door alert Ron to the presence of King's Guard. They call out for a Rhen Grimsmith. They wait for about thirty seconds, knocking a few times and after no reply, can be heard discussing plans to come back at a later time. They turn and walk out, unknowing of the corpse inside. Ron escapes out the window and drops to the street, where he catches a young boy cowering behind a set of creates. As Ron moves towards him slowly, the kid takes his chances and sprints off down the street, Ron giving chase. Rounding a corner, he pushes an Elf to the ground then feels an explosion of pain as he is greeted by a stone hammer, brandished by a ten foot tall Ogre, which throws him violently into a small water feature across the way. June 18, 2013 - The Right to Bear Arms Everyone got new skills! Hurrah! *After the fight, the King's Guard start arriving into the square. *The Ogre appears to have broken out of a shop constructed out of wood called "Fizzcrank's Mechanical Goods" under the sign of the cog *The store is located in the unsavoury side of town *The store has a little bit of everything and doesn't seem to specialise anything in particular *Considering that an Ogre had broken out of the store the shop seems to be in particularly good repair *Uruvian and Kale attempt to detect something magical in the shop, but aside from a slight feeling, don't notice anything out of place *The King's Guard come in and move spectators and the party members back *Apollo spots Garthak, one of the King's Guard and speaks to him, giving a report of what had happened *Garthak asks the party members to go somewhere more private so his officers can question them *Our heroes move towards the Pig's Snout without incident *The Pig's Snout is very, very gloomy and dank. The unsavoury characters in it are very wary of the party *Uruvian doesn't really like the place, but sits and has a drink *The barmaid gives us a round of drinks, Kale finds a piece of rolled up parchment sealed with a wax imprint of a hand in his ale, he takes a sip of the ale through his impromptu straw and unrolls it revealing a message that says "Pluton's Star" *Most of the party members fail to recognise it, except for Apollo who recognises it as the name of a store in the city that sells specialised goods; like children's toys eg. puzzles, trinkets, knick knacks etc *Uruvian goes up to the bar maid, converses with her and realises that she doesn't know anything about the messages in the mugs of ale *Uruvian arranges lodging and gives her just the tip. A'' tip. Sorry. *Apollo tells the party that he recognises the name written on the parchment but not the wax seal consisting of the handprint *The party makes their way to the store, which is tucked away in a side alley in a fairly quiet area of the city *They enter the store and see Quarrel Hollowpot, a little old Halfling who greets them and proceeds to tell them how business hasn't been the best *Kale proceeds to buy a set of marbles out of pity for the old man. *Uruvian shows the shopkeep the wax seals and asks him if he has anything that would make a similar mark to the handprint *The store was named after Quarrel Hollowpot's great- great- great- grandfather who fought in the Great War *Despite Ron telling him that he wasn't interested in seeing the contents of the book he was reading, Quarrel shows Uruvian a diagram of a bowl that appears Elven in origin *Uruvian ends up buying an intricately carved wooden pendant *They leave the shop, and what appeared to be the street has turned into a long dark corridor. *Apollo observes that the corridor is fairly well lit, with a corner about 20 feet down *Quarrel walks through the doorway, but doesn't appear in the corridor *Kale walks down the corridor after Apollo but apart from being able to tell that it is a kind of magical ward *They are approached by a hooded, cloaked figure (Clinken) who leads them to 'Dante' *Apollo senses that the figure leading them is only doing his job and feels that he doesn't mean them any harm *Apparently The Black Hand serve the King, who overlooks their use of magic because their work benefits the city. *Dante is in a room with a gigantic map of the city, showing areas that Apollo is familiar with as well as some that he has never seen before *Dante has shoulder length black hair and a goatee. *As Dante is briefing the party members a man enters the room who looks familiar to Apollo, he is a nobleman in the King's court *The Black Hand seems to be the King's spies and assassins *He states that their organisation needs outside help, which in this case is the party. He also offers them 200 GP each as an incentive to assist The Black Hand *Apollo asks Dante whether he knows anything about his situation *The party members are shown a sketch of a man Frolick who was hailed as a great hero after the great war has been forgotten by the folk of the city and now lives in the shadow of the mountain. He is thought to be crazy because he keeps prophesying the return of Malcor and attempts to rally people against Malcor *Frolick has gone missing and the King's Guard have asked the Black Hand to look into his disappearance *The Black Hand feel that Frolicks disappearance will have repercussions on the city and its surrounding areas. The organisation is attempting to recruit the party members to speak to Frolicks son, Wrenn Grimsmith, as well as looking around his residence to find any clues the Guard have missed. *The party accepts the task *Clinken takes the party to an armoury, conversing with each person along the way *He provides each of them with weapons or armour and offers them lodgings should they need them *The party makes its way to Wrenn's house which looks very familiar to Ron *The rest of the party urge Ron to pick the lock so they can get the job over and done with *Kale makes his way up the stairs where he finds a dead body of someone who looks a lot like the person they need to speak to. *Uruvian examines the room and the letters left on the table and finds more references to the Shadow Plane and the writers plans to spread warning about the rise of Malcor to Belwynn and the outlying regions *Kale take a small hammer from the workshop table *As they examine the rooms, a purple portal appears and two three headed dogs and two tall good looking bald men walk through. 25th June, 2013 - Wanna See My Toe? *Shadowspeakers speak to each other during combat "Is he here?" "Yes, he's one of them" After combat, the party interrogate the remaining shadowspeaker who says: *"The mark will bear all" *"The slayer of shades." *"From the plane of shadows." *"Corustine is coming." *After combat Apollo notes that his arm hurts *Kale magically inspects his arm and notes that something magical is happening. It doesn't seem to be doing any damage and seems to be a wearing off. *Uruvian inspects the area where the portal appeared but finds nothing The party splits up, Ron heading back to the Pig's Snout, Kale and Apollo go to the town hall to check the rolls of citizens and Uruvian goes back to Thoak Darkbane’s shop. '''Ron' *Ron is confronted by a man covered in a jet black cloak and wearing a stylised mask of a ravens head. *He steps towards Ron and says "Ron." while circling him *"For chaos to exists, there must first be the presence of order. Even the best laid plans have a chance of falling prone. Even the god's are cautious of using this power. *Dimitri was meant to kill two people. Only one died. *Ron is beset by a group of heavily armed people demanding the gold. *''God, I love the dialogue between Ron and this Raven guy.'' *Ron throws the money bag up in the air and pushes past the startled thugs making his escape. *He recalls a rooftop area that is fairly easy to get to and provides a rabbit warren of building roofs that would make it slightly easier to lose his followers. *Ron springs up to the rooftop and makes his way to a gap between two buildings, jumping over the gap, but he has misjudged the distance and falls onto a cart on the street below. *The ravens locate him and start following him. Ron ducks into an alleyway and watches them run past. He has successfully evaded them. Uruvian *Uruvian knocks on the door, and hears a voice saying "It's no use, he's not there." *The beggar tells Uruvian that the alchemist hasn't been at home for a few days. *Uruvian pays the beggar two gold to not show him his toe. The beggar then accuses Uruvian of mugging him. *The beggar calls two of the King's Guard over who then suggest that it would be best for Uruvian to move away. *Something about a toe *Frolick was last seen thirty days ago *Hirkshaw works as a jester and frequents the marketplace Kale & Apollo *Kale speaks to a woman behind a desk and asks her for information on anyone named Hirkshaw *Apollo notices about four ravens flying around the area *Kale makes friends with the bureaucrat lady! Note to self: Bring sponge cake to the town hall next time you’re in the area. *The pair make their way to the marketplace and inquire about possible recent sightings of Frolick with no luck. They head back to the meeting place It's Party Time! *The party meets up again and exchange information. They then head back to Pluton's Star. *They each buy a whistle, and open the door to leave Pluton's Star, activating the ward. Clinken leads them to Dante who debriefs the party. *The Shadow Realm - A world that exist parallel to our own, which can be accessed if the the veil between them is breached. *They talk about Cedric and Dante thinks that he would have gone to see Quell, an expert on the Shadow Plane. *Quell lives about 5 days ride out of the city, but if summoned can be in the city within a day. *Dante asks the party members to continue assisting them. They agree and decide to spend the night in the Black Hand headquarters. Apollo *He is flying over the city and zooms in to a store sign reading "Nature's Blessing". *He sees the inside of the store which contains a naked old man with the majority of his skin removed. He still has a beard and glasses on his face. The room is very bloody, and there are still some blades stuck inside the corpse of Thoeak. *There is a tall slender pale human wearing shimmering jet-black armour covered in spikes. Purple-black ribbons of energy dance around his feet. He is holding a large two handed blade made out of a dark, unknown material. He is muttering to himself, but stops and looks almost directly at Apollo, who then wakes up with arm pain. *Apollo inspects his arm and notices a symbol carved into his skin comprising a circle with a line connecting it and a smaller circle. *Apollo leaves his room in search of Dante who is out for the moment. He makes his way to Uruvian's room and knocks on the door. They discuss his dream and Apollo shows Uruvian the mark on his arm, who recognises the mark from the letters between Frolick and Hirkshaw. *The pair quickly wake the other two and the party leave the headquarters and head towards the Nature's Blessing. *Uruvian checks the door and finds it unlocked. The party enters and finds the tall slender warrior next to the corpse of Thoac. *The warrior says that Malcor walks the earth once more, a situation that is being ignored by most humans. He works in the Court of the Raven. *After some exposition the warrior roots them to the ground and sets the shop on fire. July 2, 2013 - Chicks Dig Scars (And Tattoos. And Branches?) *Thoeac has the mark engraved on his chest, exactly the same as the mark on Apollo's arm *The Court of the Raven seem to want to take over the world and keep Malcor from occupying it *The party's legs are entangled with dark roots *Corastine reappears, looks towards Kale and says "Cedric gives his regards, and you'll be pleased to know he's in high spirits." Skill Challenge *Success - Uruvian takes his whistle out of his pocket and blows it, blows it good. *Success - Apollo keeps calm and while looking for items that could be useful in helping them escape, notices pots of water scattered around the shop. *Success - Kale prays to Sehanine for guidance. He feels that the door is the way to go, but feels drawn to a nearby bookshelf *Success - Ron jumps up and manages to somehow break free of the roots grounding him. *Success - Uruvian changes to bear form, shattering the dark roots wrapped around his legs. *Success - Apollo uses his strength to break free from his shackles. *Success - Kale uses the guidance from Sehanine to unravel the magic that keeps the roots in place. *Success - Seeing his friends broken free of their chains, Ron swiftly scouts the room for valuable and finds: 100 GP, 500 GP worth of ritual components and 1x healing potion Skill Challenge Ends *Uruvian tries and to find a report on anything relating to what is ailing his mother. He does however find a plant that is commonly used to hide valuables and manages to open it. Inside is a bundle of papers wrapped up in some string, which he carries in his mouth. *In the meantime, the fire is coming closer and closer, licking at their feet. *Kale dashes past the bookshelf, grabbing one that has caught his eye on the way to the door. *The party dash out of the shop just in time, as the building collapses. They are disoriented, hearing screams and the sound of Kings Guard running towards them. *As each party member falls, they feel a chill, almost welcoming sensation and they don't feel themselves hitting the ground. Apollo *Wakes up in a room lined with wooden walls. He is aware of a dull ache all over his body, but his arm has stopped throbbing. His armour is on the floor next to his bed. *He sits up and immediately feels pain in his arm where the mark sits. The burrowing pain is new, and along with it comes a change in the mark itself. It is visibly growing, moving its way up his arm and approaching his chest, shoulder blade and neck. *The pain intensifies, becoming almost unbearable but suddenly stops. As it ceases, Apollo feels stronger, almost in a rage, but it feels like a controlled rage which can be harnessed and used to his advantage in combat. (Badge of the Berserker, Level 7) *Apollo puts his armour on, opens the door and looks into another room, similar to the one he woke up it. Inside is a large, broad shouldered (possibly handsome? I don't know) man sitting at a table. *The man at the table turns out to be Quel, he answers some of Apollo's questions. He indicates that he does not approve of the current King and serves his father. He assures Apollo that he is safe here. *As Quel stands up, Apollo sees that he is almost comically stocky, wearing formidable looking armour, along with a brown cloak with a collar that greatly obscures his face, however his glowing eyes and significantly bushy beard are very hard to miss. He wears a hat which covers the majority of his face, making it hard to make out skin tone or other distinguishable features. The rest of his body is completely covered, gloves, cloak etc Kale *Wakes up in a room similar to the one Apollo in, there is a shuttered window. *Kale sits up to put his armour on, but his arms start tingling. He inspects his hands and notices two symbols on the back of his hand, which he instantly recognises as the mark of Sehanine. *They light up as he looks at them, and as this happens he feels a divine presence. (Dual-Threat Gauntlets) *Kale offers a prayer of thanks to Sehanine, and immediately feels her blessing *He gets up,goes to the door and looks through and sees Apollo talking to Quel *Quel asks Kale to wait until the party is complete before he answers his questions Uruvian *Uruvian wakes, and immediately remembers the events of the night before. He reaches into his pack to inspect the papers that he grabbed from the plant. *As he grabs the papers, he is overcome by a pain that seems to originate from his hands. It intensifies, causing him to drop the papers. *On inspection, his hands appear disfigured, covered in sores that swirl and pop the surface of his skin. *He pours some magical water over his hands to try to fix the burn, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. *(Caustic Gauntlets) *He comes to grips and inspects the papers, noting that they are covered in Elven writing. He realises that he is now in possession of a ritual book and has successfully learned how to Brew Potions. *He returns the papers to his pack, finishes dressing and heads out the door. *Quel welcomes Uruvian and states his concern over the state of Uruvian hands, introducing himself and reassuring him. *Uruvian thanks him for his assistance. Ron *Wakes up in a room, completely starkers. *He gets up to dress, but feels a sharp, crippling pain in the back of his neck. *Ron reaches back and feels a large bulb in the back of his neck. The lump seems to have something inside it and as he tries to feel it, it sprouts branches that chokingly wrap around his neck which is partially protected by his armour. (Cape of the Mountebank) *He enters the neighbouring room and sees Quel along with the other three party members. *Quel and Ron exchange terse words. Party Time *Kale asks about Cedric, unfortunately although Quel knows Cedric, he has not seen him for a few years. *The man who attacked them in the shop is the leader of the Court of the Raven and is named Corastine. He turned to the Shadow Realm for power to fight the return of Malcor. *Quel describes how the parallel worlds exists alongside each other and the role Arcane magic held in keeping them apart. *He explains that Arcane magic is not inherently evil, but its effects rely on the wielder of the magic. *The Land that Thirsts is a name given to the entity that is, for all intensive purposes, the Shadow Realm. The best way to put it would be: The land itself exists as a living entity, which feeds upon the souls of its inhabitants, and in return grants immortality, and power over the Shadow. Obviously, if their own “souls” aren’t fed in a similar way, they would be completely destroyed. Hence, the Masochistic nature in which they live sustains them, by sustaining the “Land that Thirsts”. *Uruvian asks Quel about the disease that ails his mother *Quel is unsure about the situation, but does say that it sounds like she is “Shadowtouched” *Members of the Shadow Realm cannot stay in our world for too long, resulting in only quick raids *Quel suggests that they go find Dante *The party leaves the rooms and head to the ruins of the Natures Blessing which is swarming with Kings Guard and local law enforcement investigating the ruins. *They head back to the Pluton's Star which disappointingly does not sell chisels, however the owner tries to sell them some throwing plates. *Quel becomes impatient and his outline appears to shimmer a little bit, hinting at an ursine form as he struggles to keep his temper in check. *They head towards the shop that the ogre came from and inspect the interior, finding nothing. *Quel is becoming very irritated with the party’s inability to find the lair of the Black Hand. *Kale senses another ward somewhere in the city *They walk through the city and sense some magical powers emanating from a florist on the street. *The party enters the shop and immediately exits again, they find themselves in the lair of the Black Hand which permeated by the scent of blood. *Quel leads the party up the stairs and behind the wall inside the main room *Uruvian senses something dead in the room behind the wall. He peeks around the corner and sees the dead bodies of various members of the Black Hand scattered around the room. They seem to have been stabbed with blades numerous times, and some are positioned in ways that imply a general lack of respect for the dead, and some kind of comical amusement by the the attackers. *There are two grapefruit sized brass balls on the ground. They are covered in intricate carvings *Kale feels that they should investigate the rest of the room before questioning the florist. *As Uruvian moves towards one of the brass balls Quel turns towards him and yells "Don't touch them!" *The surface of the ball appears to writhe, gears and panels start moving into and out of impossibly small spaces and after a short while it pops open and several streaks of shadow energy pops out, coalescing into almost hilariously proportioned creatures that seem to be mostly made of mouthfuls of huge grinning teeth. *The second ball pops open, more of the same come out *Dante appears down the hallway, flanked by two members of the Black Hand. They all have glowing eyes and scars on their necks *Quel shouts out "Shadowtouched!" *Combat ensues, resulting in a victory for the party *Kale examines the Shadowtouched, finding what appears to be a small medallion bearing the mark of a raven on each one. *Uruvian examines the brass balls and puts them in his pack *Kale feels several sources of Shadow magic in the room *Quel explains that the Shadowtouched are made by humans being stabbed by a Shadow Steal dagger imbued with the soul of a Shade from the Shadow Realm, turning them into mindless agents of the Shadow, causing them to mindlessly attack anything that gets in their way *There are two types of portals, static and temporary *Each temporary portal has a mass limit, larger portals can bring more units through *Static Portals: For a Static Portal to be opened, two things are needed. An address at both ends (think stargate, with the runes). Static addresses exist in the world, potentially in weird magical circles of stones, or even a cave, a candle. Hell, even an empty can could be a static address in this world. *Without an address on this side, there is no way to open a static portal. Quel did mention however, that they have the power to create static address, using dark shadow energy. The idea is, they send people through temporary portals, create the static address, then dial in from the shadow realm, equalling doom to the whole world. *The process of creating a static address from an object, a person, a weapon, a landmark etc isn’t easy however. Basically, its not intended to work this way, and for the Dark Magiks used to do such sorcery is hard to contain. The method, as explained by Quel, is to pour enough Shadow energy into an object so that it can be contacted by the other side. Unfortunately, most items can never hold the amount of Shadow energy needed and they would simply explode, fall apart or die.. *He mentioned that the only things capable of holding the large amounts of Shadow energy needed would be something containing enough Arcane Magic (pre war weapon), because of how Arcane Magic is used as a defence against the shadow, or potentially something with enough resistance to the dark forces. Something blessed by a god could also potentially be used to create a static portal address. *Quel stresses the importance of discovering if a static portal is actually being constructed, and stopping the ritual at all costs July 9, 2013 - I Pelvic Thrust My Way Into the Room *Kale pulls out the book he took from the shop the previous night and discovers that it contains the instructions necessary to performing a ritual to enchant an item. *Apollo's arm is hurting once more *Uruvian exits the enclave and questions Marcia, the florist about whether she had seen anyone leaving the flower shop *The only people she saw were the party members *Uruvian buys some plants that can be used for one of his rituals *Kale walks out of the enclave, and feels a few faint signals but nothing he is able to track *Ron and Apollo leave the shop, Apollo's arm stops hurting *It is midday *Uruvian locates a war hammer wielding King's Guard, who turns out to be Jahmal *Jahmal doesn't remember seeing anyone wearing raven masks, aside from the ones chasing Ron earlier on *Uruvian notes a pair of ravens flying high in the sky, over the central area of the city *The party head towards the market, Jamal telling them stories and he tells Apollo that Nilus is giving him a hard time *Kale attempts to sense magical concentrations and feels something coming from the general area of the temple. *As the party heads towards the temple Apollo's arm starts to ache, and he informs the party of this *Uruvian gets the idea to use Apollo as a divining rod for the magical energy *Uruvian notes that there are fewer and fewer people in the surrounding area *They approach the temple, which is surrounded by walls and a set of gates, with three figures standing guard *As the party discusses how to enter the temple, five figures walk up to the King's Guard who stops the group *They start conversing and show the guards something, after which they are let in *The party moves closer to the gate and Uruvian notes that two of the guards are wearing less ornate armour. *Uruvian describes the third guard to Apollo, who realises that he is Nilus *The party moves closer to the gates Apollo notices that the other two guards are unfamiliar *After some prompting from Uruvian, Kale walks up to the gate and shows the guards his medallion, slipping Uruvian the second medallion *Kale walks up the steps, noticing the paired statues of Corellon and Sehanine *Sehanine's statue appears well tended, Corellon's has only been perfunctorily looked after *Ron and Apollo make their way to the north wall, Apollo boosts Ron over the wall successfully, but falls as he tries to make it over *Apollo makes it over on his second try *Apollo and Ron make their way to Kale and Uruvian *Kale confidently makes his way up the steps, completely failing to notice three brass balls *The balls start activating and strands of shadow energy stream out and coalesce into mouthfuls of teeth. *Combat *Fireworks! *Uruvian puts his ear to the door and hears muffled voices *Apollo's arm hurts, like, majorly *One of the voices in the next room sounds like it is being killed *Uruvian tells the party what he hears and Kale wants to go in and help *Ron impatiently pushes the doors open and pelvic thrusts his way into the room *The interior of the temple is very beautiful *At the rear of the temple is a large steel frame, holding down a man strung up being injected with purple fluid that is being extracted from two doglike creatures flanking the frame *In front of them is a man dressed similarly to Corastine, standing next to Froleek *In front of them is a row of raven dressed men, one of whom is crumpled on the floor *Kale recognises the man strung up as Cedric and realises that he is being pumped with Shadow energy to create an address for a static portal *Hirkshaw generally starts badmouthing the party and makes a terrible pun *Kale perceives that Froleek does not want to be here *Combat *The party defeats the Court of the Raven *Hirkshaw summons a death knight looking creature out of a void *While this happens, Kale hears a whisper in his ear "The light of Sehanine shines on you and your party." *The party is invigorated July 23, 2013 - Smells Of Spaghetti, Knees Weak, Arms Are Heavy *Hirkshaw walks in front of Cedric and starts talking about his latest recruit, Froleek *Froleek spits at Hirkshaw's feet and calls him a monster *Hirkshaw summons a hideous creature, that has glowing red eyes and skin stretched over bone *Froleek attempts to fight Hirkshaw's influence, but is attacked by what appear to be worms that Hirkshaw summons from the ground beneath him Combat with Hirkshaw and Froleek *After getting knocked down again, Hirkshaw shouts out, "Enough!" with the sound of his voice reverberating throughout the temple. *He spins the dials in the syringes plugged into Cedric and summons a portal that he commands Froleek to follow him through. *He tells Kale that he'll need to get his pools cleaned. *After Hirkshaw leaves, Cedric seems to be filling up with Dark magic, becoming hideously disfigured, growing in size and breaking free of his chains. Combat with Dark Cedric *As the fight goes on, Cedric's body starts shrinking back down to normal human size *Kale examines the body for Dark Magic and finds that Cedric smells of spaghetti bolognese *Kale says a prayer to Sehanine and some of Cedric's pain goes away *Cedric wakes up and tells the party that the Court of the Raven is coming, and that the four of them would need to travel to the Shadow Realm to stop them *The party takes the insignias from the human members of the Court of the Raven *Uruvian dresses himself in the garb of the Court of the Raven, puts the robes on Cedric and asks Apollo to help him carry Cedric out. *Uruvian examines the body and pockets 500GP along with two firebombs that he found *Kale says a prayer over the bodies in the pond, creates an origami boat that he pushes into the pond *The three disguised party members head towards the gate as Kale shouts to the guards to open the gates *The party makes their way into the city, unaware that they've left Ron behind *Ron attempts to leave the temple and jump the fence, but gets spotted by a guard who recognises him, pulls out a sword and starts to chase him Skill Challenge - Three guards chasing Ron *Pass - Ron runs at the two guards approaching him, jumps up, does a graceful twist midair and lands on his feet behind the two guards *Pass - Uruvian hears a voice calling out as well as shouting behind them *Pass - Kale attempts to patch up Cedric as best as he can while they've stopped *Pass - Apollo manages to take Cedric onto his shoulder and carry him without assistance *Pass - Ron charges at the remaining guard, bowling him over and ending on the ground next to him *Fail - Uruvian attempts to remember a way back to the flower shop but all the streets look unfamiliar, and he cannot remember the way back *Pass - Kale barks out orders to the three guards and tells them to get down on the ground *Pass - Apollo's time spent doing patrols in the city has ingrained the streets and pathways into his memory and he recalls the way back to the flower shop *Pass - Ron threatens the confused guards and intimidates them into staying them on the ground further Skill Challenge Ended *Ron catches up and they make it to the flower shop safely. August 6, 2013 - Things Get In Tents *The party arrives back in the headquarters of The Kings Hand, Cedric over Apollo's shoulders. *Quell turns, sees them and instructs them to bring Cedric to him, and he inspects Cedric *The party recounts the events in the temple of Sehanine *Quell mixes together several components and creates a potion for Cedric *He questions Apollo and asks to see the mark on his arm *After inspecting the arm he questions Apollo about the origins of the mark, and reveals that the mark is one of someone who is shadowtouched. *Remarkably, Apollo seems to be in full control of himself, apart from the pain he experiences when he comes into contact with Shadow energy. *Upon inspecting himself, Apollo finds a mark on his left shoulder blade *Quell tells the party that they need to go to the Shadow Realm to stop its denizens from flocking into our world, as well as obtaining various items to help heal Cedric *Uruvian tells Quell of Nilus, and Quell supposes that he could just be hired muscle and does not appear to be Shadowtouched. Jamahl is ok though, so you can relax. *Quell instructs the party to get their affairs in order and meet him in two days. *He reveals an arm with intricately wrought gears and pistons *Poof! Quell disappears. *Kale recalls that since these creatures are creatures of shadow are vulnerable to radiant damage and not to disease or poisons *Ron decides to part ways with the party, much to everyones surprise *Kale spends some time learning the Enchant Magic Item ritual and then heads out with Apollo to the market *Kale then purchases a miniature kite and a mud cake, which he takes to the city hall to give to his friend who has taken leave because her husband has disappeared. He heads back to the market and purchases two health potions and meets with Apollo *Apollo finds an armour merchant and purchases a shield and two health potions, because he obviously doesn't trust Uruvians potions either. *Uruvian attempts to break the door open, but bounces off it and lands on the floor. *Kale and Apollo arrive back and spend some time resting *After the party attempts to break into the armour room they give up and head to a stable where Apollo purchases a horse. The party heads towards the gates and are about to start heading off when they hear someone calling out behind them *Ron appears out of the crowd and tells the party that he wants to come along as he has already dealt with his attackers *Ron heads back into the city to steal a horse and on the way back to meet with the party runs into Jamal, who he gallops away from *The party leaves to meet up with Quell, travelling through the farms surrounding the city and into the plains. *As the party rides they see a small group of trees but before they get there Uruvian summons small nature spirits *Uruvian questions Ron who reveals that he discovered information that indicated that it would benefit him to come with the party *Kale goes to bed as do Uruvian and Apollo. Ron goes for a short walk, but gets back to the party fairly soon afterwards. *A few hours into the night, the party is awakened by the roars of what turns out to be a group of goblins accompanying a bugbear. *After defeating the goblin party, Uruvian inspects their bodies and comes to the conclusion that they are wandering thieves, with no motive more complex than obtaining gold *The party then retires back to their tents, and Kale decides to appropriate Uruvian's tent, since his was trampled during the fight. He finds furry porn. Lots of furry porn.